The University of Wisconsin men?s tennis team is set on
turning things around. After the Badgers started the season 4-0 with wins over
UW-Green Bay, Butler, Northern Illinois and UW-Whitewater, they then went on to
lose five straight matches at the hands of North Carolina State, Wake Forest,
Notre Dame, Louisville and Vanderbilt.
According to head coach Greg Van Emburgh, though, those
losses may be a little misleading, as four of the five losses came against
opponents ranked in the top 30.
?We?ve looked forward to strengthening our schedule,? Van
Emburgh said. ?In order to do that, sometimes you have to play some teams on
the road, so they?ll return the match the next year.?
With a home match Monday against No. 29 TCU, the Badgers
will look to put the losing streak behind them and build off their 7-0 victory
over Northwestern Saturday.
?I?ve insinuated to the guys that let?s clean the slate,? Van
Emburgh said. ?We have a new season.?
The Badgers kicked off the Big Ten season against the Wildcats
Saturday with great play at No. 2 doubles from Nolan Polley and sophomore
Moritz Baumann. Victories at singles from Nolan Polley, Michael Dierbeger,
Jeremy Sonkin and Marek Michalicka ? who is now 10-0 in his Wisconsin career ? gave
UW a win in the conference opener.
Sonkin and the Badgers know that they still have time to
right the ship but also realize it won?t come easy.
?We?re realizing, though, that it?s not going to be handed
to us; we?re going to have to put a lot into it to get a lot out of the
season,? Sonkin said.
The Horned Frogs are coming off a 4-3 home loss to Texas
A&M Saturday and have lost two of their last three matches. Before a loss
to Oklahoma State Feb. 24, though, TCU had won nine straight meets.
With most of the Badgers’ Big Ten schedule still to be
played, Sonkin knows how important a match against a highly ranked team is.
?If we really bring a lot of fire and intensity to the matches we?re
playing in and we show that we want to be out there and we want to win, the
wins will start to go our way,? Sonkin said. ?We?ve got to go out and play
every team like they are a top-10 team in the country.?
